Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
RV Trip Planning Discussions

Go Back   iRV2 Forums > TRAVEL TRAILER, 5th WHEEL & TRUCK CAMPER FORUMS > Travel Trailer Discussion
Click Here to Login
Join iRV2 Today

Mission Statement: Supporting thoughtful exchange of knowledge, values and experience among RV enthusiasts.
Reply
  This discussion is proudly sponsored by:
Please support our sponsors and let them know you heard about their products on iRV2
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 01-17-2015, 01:03 PM   #1
Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 35
26' vs 22' Trailer Maneuverability Questions

This will be my first RV and I'm ready to make the purchase. I want the larger 26' footer. Its the Outdoors RV Creek Side 26RLS. My only concern is when it comes time to dock in the RV park/campsite and navigating smaller roads or other pit stops.

I'm also hoping my tow vehicle will match. Upgrading to a diesel is out of the question. I do plan on having the Tundra weighed on a CAT scale soon. Factory specs are also pictured at the very bottom.

Tundra 5.7L - 10,100 tow cap. Curb Weight 5,355, GVWR 7,000, GCWR 16,000.

Is there even going to be a difference in the two sizes in terms of man handling it around? That 22' unit is the shortest size I'm willing to do. The smaller one is the Outdoors Creek Side 22RB.

ORV: Creek Side 26RLS
Creek Side 26RLS
Exterior Length (approx. w / hitch) 31'8"
Gross Vehicle Wt Rating (GVWR): 8,800 lbs.
Unloaded Vehicle Wt (UVW): 7,000 lbs.
Cargo Carrying Capacity (CCC): 1,800 lbs.
Hitch Weight: 710 lbs.

ORV: Creek Side 22RB
Creek Side 22RB
Exterior Length (approx. w / hitch) 26'10"
Gross Vehicle Wt Rating (GVWR): 6300 lbs
Unloaded Vehicle Wt (UVW): 4600 approx lbs
Cargo Carrying Capacity (CCC): 1700 approx lbs
Hitch Weight: 485 approx lbs




Jet_Fuel is offline   Reply With Quote
Join the #1 RV Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

iRV2.com RV Community - Are you about to start a new improvement on your RV or need some help with some maintenance? Do you need advice on what products to buy? Or maybe you can give others some advice? No matter where you fit in you'll find that iRV2 is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with other RV owners, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create an RV blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Old 01-17-2015, 01:14 PM   #2
Senior Member
 
Gordon Dewald's Avatar
 
Winnebago Owners Club
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 14,885
Without knowing the weight of the tow vehicle it is difficult to provide advice.

We need to know the vehicle weight and the weight on the back and front axle when you are loaded with gas, DW, dogs, kids, bikes, grill, toys, and anything else you will be hauling when you are heading out for a camping trip.
__________________
Gordon and Janet
Tour 42QD/InTech Stacker
Gordon Dewald is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-17-2015, 01:34 PM   #3
Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 35
The truck will be pretty empty, just 2 people at 300lbs and some gear at 200# max.
Jet_Fuel is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-17-2015, 01:38 PM   #4
Senior Member
 
Franka548's Avatar
 
Freightliner Owners Club
Retired Fire Service RVer's
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: N E Ohio
Posts: 4,403
I agree with Gordon, Without knowing the actual weight of the Truck, it is hard to judge. I am going to go out on a limb though and say that the 26RLS will be too much trailer for your truck, I say this because the tounge weight will probably be between 850 and 1000# depending on your loading. With only 1645# showing payload from the curb weight( which is notoriously a low figure) add to that the passengers, hitch weight, the hitch and WD bars themselves, any gear that you would carry in the bed you will be over the GVWR of the truck.
Now the 22RB will fit your truck nicely and you won't have to worry about overloading the truck.
Frank
__________________
05 Alfa Gold 40' Motor Home "Goldie",
03 Malibu Toad
in a 24' CargoMate trailer.
Franka548 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-17-2015, 02:08 PM   #5
Senior Member
 
wa8yxm's Avatar
 
Damon Owners Club
Workhorse Chassis Owner
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 24,024
I'm not expert on weight ratings but the numbers you post look.. somewhere between reasonable (With the trailer empty) and close (with the trailer loaded),, I'd have to educate myself more on that. I see others are commenting and I will not argue with them.. I do belong to the Tim Allen school of tow vehicles (From the TV show Home Improvement where he played Tim Taylor "MORE POWER")

As to the question in the subject line.. I doubt you will notice much difference,, Generally below 30 feet you should not have a problem, the longer trailer will be slightly easier to back up believe it or not, but the slightly shorter trailer can handle tighter corners.

But there are very very few sites that are limited to rigs under 30 feet. And even on some of those I've parked 38 feet of class A with no problem (One I really like says 24 feet popups only but takes my big A just fine).
__________________
Home is where I park it!
wa8yxm is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-17-2015, 02:25 PM   #6
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Oregon
Posts: 6,621
You will be border line on payload with the 26RLS. The tongue weight will be around 900lbs loaded up. Your trucks as listed only has 1645lbs for CCC. That's not the real CCC but listed. But for speculation purposes lets use it.
1635lbs minus people @300lbs=1335lbs. Now minus 200lbs for gear=1135lbs.
Now minus the trailers TW of apr 900lbs=235lbs before you're at the trucks GVW.
Like I said theses numbers are for speculation purposes only and more than likely will be off some.
Here's a 26RLS that has the weight sticker on it. It lists the TW at 745lbs without propane or batteries. Add that plus anything you put in the front cargo area as well as under the bead and in the closets and you could easily be at or over 1000lbs for TW. That will put you right at or slightly over the trucks GVW.
BTDT with an F150 and a similar sized TT. 31'@7300lbs loaded with 900-950lbs for TW. I was at the trucks RAWR and GVW. Didn't like it. It did okay but we moved up to a 3/4 ton and towing improved dramatically.
2015 Outdoors Rv Creekside 26 RLS Travel Tailer - Cordelia RV Center | Inventory
Cumminsfan is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 01-17-2015, 02:40 PM   #7
Senior Member
 
Gordon Dewald's Avatar
 
Winnebago Owners Club
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 14,885
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jet_Fuel View Post
The truck will be pretty empty, just 2 people at 300lbs and some gear at 200# max.
Does not help.

If you want good advice on whether you should tow each trailer you need to have solid information - no guesses.

We need the total weight of the loaded truck and the weight on each axle at the same time. Getting the weight of each axle and adding them together is OK.

Multily the GVWR of each trailer by 12 - 15% to get an estimated tongue weight. They are showing about 10 - 11% but it will depend where the propane and water tanks are located. Dry weight is without water and propane.

Take the GVWR of the truck (located on the door pillar) and subtract the loaded weight, subtract the weight you calculated for the tongue and subtract about 100 lbs for the hitch reciever. If the result is negative the trailer is too heavy.

Do the same for the rear axle. Take the GAWR (rear) and subtract the weight for the rear axle of the loaded truck, subtract the weight of the tongue you calculated and subtract 100 lbs for the hitch reciever. If the number is negative the trailer is too heavy.

Add the GVWR of the trailer and the loaded weight of the truck. Add 100 lbs for the hitch reciever. If the sum of these numbers is greater than the GCVW of the truck the trailer is too heavy.

IMO it is not a question of "Can the truck tow the trailer?" but "Should the truck tow the trailer?"

There will be people out there who make all kinds of claims about exceeding the vehicle specifications. I am sure they do and cannot question their claims of "tows good" without knowing their experience and defining what good means.

Everyone agrees that exceeding the specs increased risk. There is risk even under the specifications. After all both vehicles (TT and TV) were made on an assembly line. It is just how much risk will you want to take.
__________________
Gordon and Janet
Tour 42QD/InTech Stacker
Gordon Dewald is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-17-2015, 03:41 PM   #8
Member
 
tunafish's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Suncity Center, FL
Posts: 80
We have a similar TT to your 26, a winnebago 2451. It doesn't have the two slides but the outside sure looks like they came from the same factory (the old Sunnybrook now Winnebago). The 26 sounds like it is about a thousand lbs heavier. Sometimes I think that all of these co.s just buy the same parts and throw them together.

The specs are just numbers. Your truck probably fits around either of these as far as the numbers go. But keep in mind these numbers are not the real world. Our TT is rated for a 630 lb tongue weight, but using a tongue scale it actually comes in at 850. Probably due to the propane tanks, battery, TV cabinet, bed, slide out, etc. anything that is in front of the wheels. We find that we have to load as much as possible either over the wheels or in the back, otherwise we get a lot of sway. Our truck is rated to do our trailer but the trailer can just yank it around when it feels like it. It takes some getting used to on the road.

If you are only two people you probably don't need the space and slides of the 26. The slides are always an open invitation for leaks anyway. All it takes is a pencil sized branch to get under the seal on top and you're going to have a leak. Every time you pull in the slides, you're going to have to go up there first and clean the top with a brush, even with an awning. The extra space will need more gas and be harder to handle on the road. The smaller one will be cheaper. Its your first one, start out small but comfortable. The dealers will clean your clock but you can always trade up when you're ready. If you must try the 26 as someone mentioned test drive both. Do it on the highway at 55 mph. Good Luck
tunafish is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-17-2015, 05:51 PM   #9
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 1,580
You got some good information above. I, too, think that you would be testing the limits of that truck, but damn, that 26 footer is a nice unit. Two doors, bed and bath next to each other, two TV's that you can watch and much more.
lynnmor is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-17-2015, 06:08 PM   #10
Lac
Registered User
 
Outdoors RV Owners Club
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Kamloops BC Canada
Posts: 1,399
IMHO you will be under trucked and over trailered with the 26 rls. We travel in the mountains and I would not feel comfortable towing in the mountains with your truck and the longer trailer combination...especially climbing and descending some of our mountain passes.
Depending on where you like to camp some of the camp grounds have sites that are short..so you may be limiting your self with the longer trailer.
We have an Outdoors Product and are very pleased with the build of the trailer...imho it's a good product.
Good luck

Coops
Lac is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-17-2015, 06:48 PM   #11
Senior Member
 
Tiffin Owners Club
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Cedar Falls, IA
Posts: 2,226
We have a Tundra 4x4 that we tow an Outdoors RV Timber Ridge 24RKS. It is as big as we could possibly want for that truck. I like to have a significant capacity, and the Tundra has slightly less margin that what we prefer. Then again, we are frequently in mountains at 9-10,000 foot. YMMV, but I know I wouldn't want to tow as big a trailer as the bigger one you are looking at.
__________________
2018 Tiffin RED 37PA
2023 F-150 carrying a RZR 570 Trail UTV toad
https://toobusyforwork.com
UTTransplant is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-17-2015, 07:00 PM   #12
Senior Member
 
kayakcrazy's Avatar
 
Outdoors RV Owners Club
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Regina, Saskatchewan
Posts: 304
Creek Sides

Greetings Jet_Fuel welcome to the forum. Dw and I have the Timber Ridge 260RLS and absolutely love it. We tow it with a 2013 GMC Sierra with the 6.2 gasoline engine. We do 90% of our towing here in Saskatchewan (flat as a board) so have not had the urge to spend more money on a diesel. It's not to say we won't one day upgrade but our driving habits will have to change. Currently when we drive here in the province my truck hums along at 1700 rpm at 90 km/h (about 55 mph).
We had a 24 foot Kodiak previous to this one and like the extra two feet in our Timber Ridge (basically it's the area where your two easy chairs are located and I wouldn't want to give up the scenery out my picture window). We upgraded those two rear chairs and put in quality Lazy-Boy units. We use an Andersen WD hitch and love it but are currently working to get it dialled in right. We originally wanted the stand alone table and chairs but due to dealer error ended up with a bench and solid table (which as a bonus gives us extra storage). We took out the mattress and put in our Sleep Number Bed and are adding other things to make our trailer more like home.
If I can answer any more of your questions please drop me a PM.
__________________
"We were not placed on this earth to see through one another, but rather to see one another through!"
2013 Timber Ridge 260RLS, 2013 GMC Sierra 6.2L
kayakcrazy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-17-2015, 07:26 PM   #13
Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 35


Thanks for the replies. Looks like I have more investigating to do.

I got my pickup weighed today with fuel at 50% (full = 160 lbs) and 2 adults inside. I have a little gear on board that I would always carry consisting of emergency tools and emergency food/water.

How about this Outdoors RV Black Rock 25RLS unit? Its the same floor plan/length as the 26RLS but on a budget trim. The outer shell is a little different as well. If 650# hitch weight dry is still too high, how much should I be looking at?

http://www.outdoorsrvmfg.com/blackrock/models/25RLS.php
Black Rock 25RLS
Exterior Length (approx. w / hitch) 31'8"
Gross Vehicle Wt Rating (GVWR): 8,400 lbs.
Unloaded Vehicle Wt (UVW): 6,600 lbs.
Cargo Carrying Capacity (CCC): 1,800 lbs.
Hitch Weight: 650 lbs.
Jet_Fuel is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-17-2015, 08:39 PM   #14
Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 35
I forgot to type out the weight of the scale in case the photo goes away. Edit feature is gone.

Weights are as following:

Steer Axle 3240 lb
Drive Axle 2380 lb
Total Axle 5620 lb
Jet_Fuel is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply



Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
2012 Ram 3500 Trailer Brake Problems? Ram3500 Trailer Towing and Tow Vehicles Discussion 5 11-07-2014 06:46 PM
Back up camera on the trailer? Quadzilla Trailer Towing and Tow Vehicles Discussion 21 07-02-2014 08:02 PM
Class A Coach towing a enclosed car trailer palehorse89 Trailer Towing and Tow Vehicles Discussion 2 03-11-2014 09:35 AM
Need a larger trailer! dukenrock Just Conversation 8 01-13-2014 06:26 AM
Upgrade Travel Trailer Electrical BassinDmax Boondocking 2 04-23-2013 08:53 PM

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 06:53 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.